Skubick's Capitol: Yob's fall guy if Granholm wins

April 08, 2002|By Tim Skubick

The GOP will finger Wayne County Executive Ed McNamara, won't they? After all, he's the guy who plucked Jennifer Granholm from the bowels of Wayne County government. He dubbed her "destiny's child" and saw her make a huge splash on the Lansing scene. She was sworn in as attorney general and before she lifted her hand from the Bible, the pundits had her running for governor.

Nope. McNamara is not the one.

Then it must be Geoffrey Fieger. After all, he's the one who allowed her on the ticket in 1998. He's the one who got in an argument with her. She bolted and ran her own campaign literally ignoring Geoffy-poo. Even back then she knew she'd be better off on her own for fear Fieger would drag her down and tarnish her rising star before it ever rose.

Yeah. The GOP fall guy has got to be Fieger.

Wrong again.

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Nope. The Republicans will look inward for someone to blame and his initials are C.Y.

Ever heard of Chuck Yob? Unless you've been in a coma, you've heard about the Chuckster and his ever so-politically incorrect comments about females on the GOP ticket.

Yob is the fall guy if Granholm wins. How so?

Well, if it weren't for him, there never would have been a her, GOP insiders lament.

You have to go back to the state GOP convention of 1998 when Gov. John Engler decided he wanted Scott Romney to run for attorney general. Scott agreed. Engler agreed. The state convention did not.

There, behind the scenes, going mano-a-mano, were Engler and Yob. The west Michigan Republican leader wanted a fellow named John Smietanka to get the A.G. nod and, by golly, the Yob-Smietanka axis ran over the old man.

Smietanka went up against Granholm and proceeded to lose. The governor's gang figures had it been a Romney-Granholm matchup, she'd be home watching reruns of her appearance on the Dating Game. More importantly, GOP guv hopeful Dick Posthumus would have a better shot today at extending the Engler legacy.

Confronted with this theory the other day, Granholm literally stopped in her tracks and blurted out in laughter. After she thought about it for a day, she came up with this terse rejoinder.

"Chuck Yob did not make my political career. In fact, if Chuck Yob had his way, women would not be allowed to vote." So there.

Her analysis not withstanding, can you find Republicans who buy the theory? Oh yeah.

House GOP Floor Leader Bruce Patterson says, "It has merit."

"Absolutely" responds Rep. Andrew Richner whose Grosse Pointe district voted for Smietanka. Richner adds at the time he said, "We have just elected the next Democratic governor."

Sen. Shirley Johnson, R-Royal Oak, said, "Absolutely."

Rep. Kuipers doesn't buy the theory, but then he's from west Michigan, Yob territory.

But dubbing Yob the only fall guy is unfair. Once Smietanka got the nomination, he got precious little help from the Engler machine. With that help, maybe she could have been defeated; certainly without it, Smietanka was headed for the tank.

And, oh yeah, Gov. Engler is a true believer in the 'Yob's the bad guy' notion. He went more than a year and never talked with Yob whom he blames as being "selfish" over the A.G. nomination adding this: "If she (Granholm) wins, she should throw a party for him (Yob) to thank him."

- Tim Skubick is the longest-serving member of the State Capitol Press Corps with 32 years of covering Michigan government and politics. He anchors the weekly Public TV series "Off the Record" on WCMU TV. His column appears in the Saturday HT.